Deus Ex is one of the best PC games in history, but even it isn't without its faults and shortcomings. Shifter addresses these and then some. Unused game content, buggy scripted events, several completely useless items, and certain design choices that can only be described as "annoying", all fixed (or at least "improved") by this little mod. I started Shifter in 2002 to fix just one of the latter -- the fact that weapons equipped with a laser sight won't turn it on automatically -- and the project has expanded exponentially since then. A few new weapons, some additional uses for existing items, new augmentations, and several fixes for existing Deus Ex bugs all exist in Shifter, along with a new multiplayer component. The mod is so popular it's been featured in Game Informer's July 2007 edition of Mod World; how many Deus Ex mods can say that? (only 3, to be specific) Shifter: "Removing the suck from Deus Ex" since 2002.

So I realize it's been a while since I updated here. Or showed up here. Or really did anything much Shifter-related.

First off, no the mod is not dead. Let me tell you what's going down.

I've been unfaithful to Deus Ex.

For the first time in, oh, ever, I am actually modding a CURRENT game. It may not be apparent, but I typically get my hands on a game and mod it a good year or so after most people have stopped caring. This time the game in question came out with their SDK the day of its release, and I had the game in-hand the day of release. After playing it for, oh, five minutes it became blisteringly clear that there was plenty of modding opportunity here.

The monkey wrench in the works, as it is, is that this game is Fallout: New Vegas.

As you might understand, there's a LOT of content here to be played with. There's also quite a need for mods, but more importantly third-party bug fixes. More and more that's the kind of content for the game that I'm putting out: things that fix some of the laundry list of bugs the game has at the moment.

Now, I STILL am going to come back to this mod, that you can count on. There's changes I've made that need to be compiled into a new version and released, which I will hopefully do here soon. Beyond that it may be some time before I'm really actively modding Deus Ex. This is ESPECIALLY true because Human Revolution comes out early next year, and I expect to be doing nothing but playing that for a good few weeks, and (assuming its moddable) modding it for several weeks or months after that. In between all of that I hope to put in some work here and there on Shifter, but it will be VERY spotty.

So, in short, sorry I've been gone, I'll put up what changes I've made here in a few weeks, and if Human Revolution is at ALL moddable expect me to dive headfirst into that as soon as possible.

- Shifter-TNM: Made sure that when Shifter replaces TNM's MedBots with
the Shifter ones it only removes the old TNM bots after its sure the
new ones are in place. If a replacement MedBot isn't spawned then the
old TNM one will still be around, which means it augmentation
replacement may not always be available in TNM + Shifter.

- HDTP no longer loads/unloads when you do a QuickSave, which will
make these saves actually quick, but not fully compatible if swapping
save files between computers. Of course, if you're going to swap a
save file then you can just make a separate, non-quick save file.

- Added a built-in way to skip the intro when starting a new game:
right-clicking the "OK" button. This is probably only going to be
useful for people trying to run Shifter with the Demo version, and the
horribly impatient.

- Moved around part of the fix for the UC destruction event in HK so
it's more efficient.

- Also moved around where Ray gets set to being neutral. While I was
there I also removed some old, out-of-date code that was doing nothing
but taking up resources.

- Added a routine to part of NPC Random Inventory which should help
ensure that items given to NPCs, particularly ones in TNM, don't just
wind up at their feet. Also adjusted NPC Random Inventory to not
factor in inventory belonging to another NPC that has somehow been
linked to the wrong inventory list.

- Fixed a subtle Deus Ex glitch with couches. Did you know they're
supposed to come in five different colors? I didn't. Thanks to Jonas
of TNM for pointing that out.

- Re-worked the Pistol Downgrade fix so that it is more compatible
with other mods like TNM/etc. which use a custom New Game Menu class.

- Changed the code for putting random augmentations in summoned Aug
Cans. The code was set up so that if it picked one of the "default"
augmentations then it would simply pick the next aug in the list, which
skewed results towards those "next" augs. Now it will just start the
random selection process over.

- Restored the Crossbow's original firing sound, which was never heard
due to a code oversight. Thanks to Lork on the OTP forums for pointing
this out.

- Also adjusted the Targeting aug so it will use the display name of a
weapon it spots being carried by an NPC, if available. Also thanks to
that wacky Lork guy.

- Holy crap more Lork-reported fixes. This time he discovered that if
you are using a Charged Pickup (thermoptic camo, etc.) when you are
captured by UNATCO it will leave the HUD in place and cause some other
weirdness after the item is confiscated.

- And someone ELSE pointed out that while the description on the
HazMat Suit says it protects against fire, electricity, and EMP damage,
it actually doesn't. Now it does.

- Ballistic Armor will now protect against explosive gunfire.

- A "because I can" fix, If you boost the EMP aug past Tech Four using
the Synthetic Heart aug you will actually GAIN health and energy from
sources of EMP.

- Finished work on one of the more odd-ball DXMP models I decided to
add. I'm not going to say who or what it is, except that if you've
played through one of the more bizarre Deus Ex mods you'll get the joke

- Any consumable items (soda, etc) which show up in DXMP will act as
instant-effect items when you click them, e.g. if there's a bottle of
booze when you click it you'll immediately gain some health and get a
teeny tiny bit drunk. This has something to do with the new DXMP model
I mentioned above.

- Changed the ammo pickup count from bodies. Again. In normal DX it
was anywhere from 1 to 4, which I changed to 1 to <Weapon Clip Size>.
Now it's a bit more complicated: 1 to (half the clip size or four,
whatever is greater).

- Moved another MissionScript fix to a lower-lag location, this time
the fix that stops the x51 scientists from making their own bots turn
on them.

- Decoration items which are not supposed to be highlight-able (i.e.
you don't see borders around them when you get close, like destroyed
cars and such) would show the "default this is a bug" description
when the Targeting augmentation was active. Fixed. Thanks to Allan
on the OTP forums.

- You may now notice ricochet sounds for bullets that miss you. This
was due to a strange bug in TraceHitSpawner.uc, which cannot parse any
variables of the Name type. Thanks to Lork for pointing this out.

- More Lork stuff: the "standing aim bonus" kept increasing the longer
you stood still, to the point where you could wind up with a rather
large "movement grace period" if you stood still for long enough.
Fixed.

- Grenades other than just yours will now cause a screen flash if you
are close enough. This applies in singleplayer AND multiplayer. Lork
pointed this out too.

- Optimized a bit of code which determined what types of projectiles
the Aggressive Defense aug could detonate. While I was there I also
made sure it won't detect and detonate placed grenades, which was just
a bit silly.

with HR released you have any new ideas your gonna implement into this mod yuki? its been awhile I know but also the stuff I have seen in HR is pretty damn impressive I was kind of skeptical about it too before it released but it was a damn good game only gripe was the boss fights which is what DX1 was good for no bosses heh